With its profound and universal importance, food is the lens through which all aspects of a resilient, wholesome future can be imagined and brought to life. This implies that organisations and individuals who work in the food ecosystem are uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role. A recent foodwize survey of chefs and urban consumers in metro cities in India surfaced interesting similarities and contrasts between how both groups envisage the future of food. Nearly all respondents in both groups believe that the future must be characterised by food which is nutritious, seasonal, fresh, environmentally replenishing, culturally appropriate, minimally wasteful and economically uplifting for food producing communities. The reality of the present day is in stark contrast. 

Soil health is deteriorating from excessive use of chemicals, climate events are severely affecting food producing communities, supply chains are long and complex, consumption of ultra-processed food is increasing, millions of tonnes of food is wasted, millions of tonnes of food packaging is exacerbating the problems of pollution and waste and there is an alarming rise in lifestyle diseases. So what is getting in the way of achieving the vision that consumers and food professionals share for the future of food? 

The foodwize survey indicates that professionals in the food ecosystem i.e. the people who work directly with food are not equipped with the skills and the resources to implement sustainable practices. Chefs would like to use ingredients which are more fresh, local, seasonal, learn how to incorporate nutrition, learn new ways of cooking. They are eager to be closer to the farmers and producers who supply their ingredients. They want to attract new customers who are conscientious about their own health and the health of the planet. They are deeply concerned about food waste and want to do more to minimise it in their establishments. However, they are also up against real challenges. It is increasingly difficult to find motivated and dedicated talent for the industry. The economics of clean food and sustainable practices  are unclear - are they affordable, will they be profitable? They are also uncertain about how far consumers will go - will they meet halfway and pay for better food, better practices? 

A truly sustainable future is going to require a transformation - new ways of thinking and doing, in which everyone takes equal and greater responsibility. When food businesses operate with this sense of responsibility and purpose, their impact goes beyond financial success. This is evident at L’Orto del Pian Bosco in Cuneo or at Square Food Foundation in Bristol or at the Holden Farm Dairy in Wales. These organisations and others like them are caretakers of the earth, they nourish communities and they show us what is possible. 

Ultimately, any organisation working with food must have 4 cornerstones - provide nourishment, replenish the planet’s biodiversity and minimise environmental harm, create meaningful livelihoods and preserve diverse food cultures. As planetary boundaries are pushed to a point of no return, food professionals will need to push their own boundaries and develop a new kind of food leadership. They will need to operate at the convergence of traditional food wisdom, modern techniques and technology and be equipped to run businesses which recognise that meaningful profit can only be achieved by caring about people, producers and planet. All people who work in the food ecosystem - growers, producers, restaurateurs, chefs, educators and investors must become beacons of change, demonstrating that food is not just business.    

Since we founded our organisation foodwize, we have invariably encountered the same initial response from various people; those working with food professionally, consumers, our friends and family. Understandably, some people think that we are going to start a restaurant or become professional cooks, but, for the most part, everyone asks, what is food wisdom and what does it mean to be foodwize? It is an important question and one that we must pay attention to, now more than ever before because food is important to us all and it affects everyone equally…or at least, it should.

Food is a source of sustenance. Quite simply, without food, there is no life. Food is integral to the culture of a place and a community, representative of the land and the climate of a region, a source of livelihood for millions of people. While a part of the population engages with food on a professional and commercial basis, food matters to everyone because after all, everyone must eat.

Centuries of evolution has impacted food in profound ways. From foraging and hunting to the gradual expansion of agriculture, colonisation, industrialisation, globalisation and digitisation, food has always changed. And the changes have been dramatic. Industrialised agriculture has brought in higher productivity and food security and global supply chains enable raw and processed foods to travel around the world perennially. A large, aspiring, globally aware population relies on cloud kitchens and armies of delivery agents to supply meals to the doorstep. The modern urban consumer actively seeks out diverse and international food experiences.

On the one hand, there appears to be an abundance of food choices for those who can afford them. On the other hand, these changes in food practices pose significant risks for the future, particularly from a nutritional, cultural and environmental perspective.

Commercially produced food is increasingly homogenous and disconnected from the local climate, local culture, deprived of nutrition and far too often, deprived of taste as well. The world is increasingly obese and malnourished; the two problems more similar than they are different - it comes down to the food we are eating. Travelling food also generates a significant carbon footprint and waste. Then there is the issue of waning food cultures. Previously, knowledge of the relationship between food, health and nature was commonplace in every household and this wisdom was passed down from one generation to another. An increasingly smaller pantry of ingredients has a direct influence on the health of the population and biodiversity.

In short, food is a subject of multiple dimensions and it is further complicated by an accelerating climate crisis. Higher temperatures, heavy unseasonal rainfall, unprecedented weather events, unsustainable agricultural practices are impacting yield of several food crops, depleting groundwater and eroding soil. In the face of climate uncertainties, a food security crisis may well become a reality, unless it is addressed through significant interventions.

Who should take the initiative? The scale and complexity of this subject naturally leads us to think of governments, international and civil organisations and such. Indeed, they play critical roles with the power to influence enduring change and at scale. But, as eaters, we, the people, have the power to make a difference every single day, by the choices we make in how we source and consume food.

Hence, to be foodwize is to apply the following 9 principles when you buy, cook and consume food:

1. Buy and consume seasonal vegetables and fruit. If you’re not quite sure about what is in season, look it up or ask. Food is most fresh and at its best in taste and nutrition when it is in season. Seasonal adjustments to your diet make you more healthy and keep you in sync with nature’s cycles.
2. Buy and consume local food i.e. food which is grown or produced in the country and does not travel far to reach you. That way, you directly support the livelihoods of local farmers and producers and reduce the carbon footprint.
3. Ask where your food comes from and how it was grown. Chemical free, organic, fair trade, sustainably raised, free range - look for signs which indicate if your food was grown in a manner that is good for you, for the grower and the environment. Ask before you buy food.
4. Diversify your plate, to include fresh, seasonal, local vegetables, fruit, grains and cereals. A diverse meal is more flavourful and more nutritious. Buying diverse food produce also supports a wider range of growers and producers and improves biodiversity.
5. Cook and consume food in culturally appropriate ways. Ingredients and recipes are rooted in a place, a community, a time. Seemingly similar dishes vary ever so slightly from one region to another as the land, climate and culture change. Respecting diverse food cultures enables us to preserve and build a rich, diverse culinary heritage.
6. Pay attention to food waste in your kitchen and on your plate. Take action to minimise it. Buy and consume in quantities that are suitable for you, avoiding the ‘shopaholic syndrome’. Food waste is one of the largest emitters of green house gas emissions globally. So, a half full refrigerator is better than one that is overloaded; it means that you can buy fresh food more frequently.
7. Make thoughtful choices when you eat out or when you order in. Demand good ingredients, diverse menus, freshly prepared food and sustainable packaging. Watch out for chemicals and substitutes of natural foods. Educate yourself before you eat.
8. Say NO to plastic, no matter what. Vegetables, fruit, herbs wrapped in plastic bags, plastic containers, bottles, lids for coffee cups, straws, pouches for chutneys, salads, pickles, plastic cutlery for your takeaway meal - just say NO. When you choose responsibly, it stimulates a much larger ecosystem to also adopt responsible practices.
9. If you don’t already know how, learn to cook, even just a little. Food is life and cooking is a life skill, a few notches ahead of learning to drive and to use a computer. It really could save your life someday.

The passport to becoming foodwize has only 9 steps and you can tell quite quickly that they are all inter-related. Take one step at a time. Add one vegetable to your plate. Change one habit. When you take even a step or two ahead, it will show you the rest of the way. This is a noble undertaking because we’re talking about food - the stuff of life, not just for us but, for those who grow it for us and for the planet at large. When we’re wise about food, we truly are wise about the world.

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture – this is the 2nd goal of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For those less familiar with the UN SDGs, they are also called Global Goals and they were adopted by the United Nations in 2015, as a universal call to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure peace and prosperity for all by 2030. 

I am particularly interested in SDG 2 because of my keen interest in food and its intimate and multidimensional relationship with social, economic and environmental sustainability. We live in a world which produces enough food for all and yet, millions of people remain hungry. The United Nations FAO State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World Report 2020 and the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2021  both indicate that the world is not on track to achieve Zero Hunger by 2030.

Hunger is a complex problem and in order to understand hunger, it is useful to understand its various forms and underlying reasons. 

Food deprivation is defined by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as the habitual consumption of too few calories to provide minimum dietary energy which an individual requires to live a healthy, active and productive life; for their gender, age and stature. Undernutrition goes beyond calories and signifies deficiencies in any or all of the following – energy, protein, essential vitamins and minerals. And malnutrition refers to problems caused by undernutrition (deficiencies) and also, overnutrition i.e. imbalanced diets involving too many calories relative to an individual’s requirement. 

The Global Hunger Index (GHI), jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe is a tool designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at a global, national and regional level and it refers to four component indicators:

1. Undernourishment i.e. insufficient calorie intake, as defined by the UN FAO
2. Child wasting : children under the age of 5 who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition 
3. Child stunting : children under the age of 5 who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition and
4. Child mortality : death rate of children under the age of 5, a reflection of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments

Overall, the world has witnessed decades of decline in poverty and hunger i.e. significant improvement. However, since 2015, there is a visible increase in one component of hunger – undernourishment. The UN estimates that nearly 690 million people are hungry i.e. 8.9% of the world’s population, up by 10 million people in one year and nearly 60 million people in the last 5 years. If urgent action is not taken, nearly 840 million people could become hungry by 2030, with extremely alarming levels of food insecurity in as many as 47 countries in the world.

What is causing food insecurity for so many people?

As the GHI report explains, food systems encompass everyone and everything connected to the production, distribution, consumption, recycling and disposal of food. Food systems include:

1. The natural system of water, the earth, the climate in which food is grown
2. The technical system comprising of the crops grown or the livestock raised 
3. The logistical and distribution system to enable the movement of food from producers to distributors and consumers, including the recycling and disposal of food 
4. And the social and economic system which is made up by the relationships between producers, distributors and consumers

Since food systems are also social systems, they reflect the inequalities found in all societies and as a result, food security is vulnerable to all events and systemic shocks and disruptions. Many factors contribute to hunger – poverty, inequality, poor governance, poor rural development, lack of investment in agriculture but, the GHI research shows that 3 major forces driving hunger are overpowering all others. I find it helpful to remember them as the 3 Cs – conflict, climate change and the covid-19 pandemic. 

Conflict has a disproportionately large impact on food security. More than 50% of the people facing hunger live in places which are affected by conflict and violence. Conflict increases food insecurity because of its impact on agricultural production and because people are displaced. Crops are destroyed or taken, inputs are destroyed or prevented from reaching farmers, land becomes inaccessible or unsuitable for agriculture, equipment and infrastructure are damaged and agricultural labour reduces due to death or injury or displacement. In most situations, displacement leaves people vulnerable to hunger and undernutrition because they are driven away from their homes, unable to work, isolated from the markets and financial credit. Conflict causes fear and uncertainty and as a result, it also reduces economic investment and weakens health care systems. 

In the last two years, a prominent reason for increased hunger is the covid-19 pandemic. It is estimated that the first year of the pandemic distorted decades of development. It worsened food security in many ways – loss of livelihoods, disruption in supply chains and massive increases in food prices. The most vulnerable under-nourished people simply cannot afford a healthy and nutritious diet because it is too expensive. Small scale producers have been hit hard and the vast majority of them are in the developing countries of the world, which already have a concentration of people who experience hunger and food insecurity. The eventual impact of the pandemic is not yet known; some estimates say that an additional 80-120 million people could become food insecure.

Looking into to the future, climate change and food production have an intrinsic relationship. The impact of climate on food security may or may not yet be visible to many of us. But, the climate is changing and particularly affecting countries and regions which are most sensitive to rainfall and temperature extremes and which have economies highly dependent on agriculture. The UN estimates that by 2050, an additional 78 million people could become chronically hungry, relative to a situation without the climate crisis. Closer home, a recent study conducted by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore indicates that by 2035, rising temperatures will significantly reduce the yield of rice, ragi (millet), jowar (sorghum), soybean and groundnut amongst others. On the other hand, production of crops which thrive in a high carbon dioxide environment like cotton and sugarcane will increase.

The statistics are overwhelming but, we need to pause for a moment and recognise that these are not mere numbers – they are real people, like you and me, human beings who do not know where the next meal will come from. 

It is not all dark. The solutions exist – across policy, governance, peace building efforts, climate action, financing, law, and ultimately, locally led implementation with involvement from all actors, including citizens like us. As people of the modern world, we live, work and consume in ways that were unimaginable to the people before us. Hence, we have the capability and responsibility to make sure that no one gets left behind, least of all when it comes to food. Do you agree?